With good traffic, I can make it to #SanDiego in an hour and a half. That’s the perfect amount of time to anticipate all that the south-most county in California has to offer. With a plethora of breweries and map full of comic book shops there is always something to do. I was in San Diego last weekend for a wedding and had a night to kill so I set my radar to find the coolest brewery I’d never been to so far and I came up with Societe Brewing Company.

It was around 6:00 on a Saturday night when I showed up with the Old Man, Ck, & Carie. The tasting room was packed as well as almost every table outside. We quick snagged an empty spot and contemplated the menu.

@SocieteBrewing has four different styles of beer that they brew: Out West, Old World, Stygian, & Feral. Sean and I went traditional with IPA selections from Out West. I got the Publican, a 5.5% Small IPA and the Old Man tried the 6.9% Fiddler IPA. We were happy with our choices and they were just hoppy enough. They were both light in color but the flavors were developed and foremost.

Carie went with a 5.6% Belgian Blonde called Harlot from the Old World menu. Ck wanted it fruity so he chose one of the Feral brews called Henchman, a 6.1% that was $10 for a 12 ounce pour. It is also known as a fruited beer and it can be called feral, or “wild,” because a different type of bacteria is used in the fermentation that produces different flavors.

Societe doesn’t offer flights but you can get up to two samples if you are on the fence about what you want to try. They have a great selection so deciding could be a problem. There was one thing about Societe that I didn’t like. That was their “full pours” being 12 ounces instead of 16. Lame. Don’t know why it bothers me but I kind of feel like I am getting gypped out of that extra 4 ounces.

There are also bottles to go and growlers you can get filled at the bar.

Something that I always enjoy seeing are the brewery tours and Societe offers them on Saturday’s at 2:00 and 4:00 pm.

Dogs are just as welcome as people at Societe Brewing and they actually have merchandise for sale for the pooches. Talk about a stylish puppy, wearing a Societe dog tee and munching on beer bones!

People-sized shirts for women are available for $17.

The decor is old fashioned and whimsical. I loved the black silhouettes on the wall with their steampunk-style lights in front of every one.

And the piano in the corner was cool. A good selection of games lined the top but we had come prepared with our own cards to play. We’ve been hooked on one called Timeline. It’s addicting, fast, and fun and you only need 2 or more to play. It’s perfect for a brewery.

Societe is great for a night of hanging out and trying different styles of brews. The atmosphere is relaxed and the place is well-run. There’s a menu board that lists what upcoming food trucks will be there and sometimes they have events. They’ve got a charitable night with a dog rescue receiving the proceeds. It was National Sour Day when we went so they had specials on their Feral selections.

I’ll be back to Societe Brewing Co. and there’s not much that I think should change. They’ve got this down. I can’t wait to try some of their 7%+ IPA’s and I’m always ready for a game of Timeline.